1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a small-sized camera and, particularly, to an improvement for a movie camera adapted to be loaded with a film cartridge which stores a roll of film coated with a magnetic recording material and to perform recording simultaneously with the filming of a scene.
2. Description of Prior Art
The cartridge adapted for use with such type of camera is provided with a cutout portion formed in one side of the outer case of the cartridge so that a part of the film stored in the cartridge is moved across a cutout portion for the purpose of recording. When the cartridge is mounted in a housing of the camera, a capstan and a magnetic recording head which are mounted on the camera body are positioned in opposed relationship to a bracket which is also mounted on the camera body and carries a pinch roller and a pad for pressing the film against the magnetic recording head. The film travels across the cutout portion and between the opposed capstan and recording head and the bracket. Thus, when the camera is loaded or unloaded with a cartridge, the bracket for the pinch roller should be pivotally retracted sufficiently so as not to interfere with the loading and unloading operation. On the other hand, when the lateral cover of the movie camera is closed, the bracket should be pivotally moved to cause the pinch roller to move to a position in which it is positioned adjacent to the capstan with the film extending therebetween and be ready for recording on the film in synchronism with the travel of the film. However, in the recording preparation position in which the cover has been closed but the film is not yet exposed, the pinch roller should be spaced from the capstan because if the pinch roller were pressed against the capstan for long time, the pressed portion of the pinch roller whose outer peripheral portion is made of a relatively soft material would be permanently deformed. The deformed pinch roller would cause malfunction of recording. Therefore, the arrangement should be such that the pinch roller on the bracket is first moved in response to the closing operation of the cover of the movie camera to a position adjacent to the capstan and then, when the release element is operated for to initiate a recording operation, the pinch roller is further moved slightly in response to the operation of the release element so that the pinch roller presses the recording track of the film against the capstan to make synchronized recording. Such an arrangement is already known in connection with a prior art camera capable of simultaneous recording.
However, in the well-known prior art camera capable of simultaneous recording, the shaft of a pinch roller is fixedly mounted on a swingable bracket. Since, in addition to the pinch roller, the bracket carries several members such as a film gate, a device for detecting the slack of travelling film and a member for preventing lateral deflection of the cartridge in the direction of the film take-up shaft, the total weight or the dead load of the bracket is substantial. When the release element of the movie camera for initiating a recording operation is actuated to move the heavy bracket from the recording-preparation position, to a recording position, an external force of a substantial magnitude is needed to operate the release element. In other words, the operation of the release element is heavy as the result of the resistance of the dead weight. Besides, the resistance to the operation of the release element, which corresponds to the dead weight of the bracket, varies depending upon the position of the camera shot, i.e., depending upon whether the camera is pointed upwardly or downwardly.